


Beginnings

by kpark



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: dirty boys become friends, nobunaga is a big brother, tagged for violence because it starts out with a fight but there's not gore or anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 20:58:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11952519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kpark/pseuds/kpark
Summary: Nobunaga sees Uvogin for the first time in a back alley fist fight.





	Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CF8WRK4U](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CF8WRK4U/gifts).



> This was just supposed to be a very short drabble, but I got carried away.
> 
> Uvogin and Nobunaga are both around 14 years old during the time of this fic.

“If you don’t give it back, you’re gonna regret it.” Nobunaga growls. He’s tired and hot from chasing the kids across the city, but his anger overpowers any and all physical exhaustion. He glares at the five kids in front of him with rage like fire in his eyes. Just judging from appearances, they’re all several years older than him, but right now Nobunaga isn’t thinking about his realistic chances in a battle, only that he’s prepared to fight.

Nobunaga had fallen asleep in the shade of an old building with his katana at his side earlier this afternoon, something that in retrospect was a grave mistake. He had woken up to find his wallet and a small stuffed animal that he planned to give to his younger sisters gone. While that was upsetting, it wasn’t devastating--he barely had any money in that wallet in the first place and the stuffed animal was just something he’d been lucky to find while dumpster diving in the morning. Both replaceable. What sent him into a full-blown panic was realizing his katana was no longer with him.

The katana had been forged by hand by his father, and given to him on his tenth birthday. Now an orphan living off the streets, it’s the only tie he has to his blood family, his life before Meteor City. It’s his most valuable possession, and could never be replaced, not in a million lifetimes. 

Unfortunately for them, the thieving culprits hadn’t gone far and were standing behind a nearby building passing around the katana like some kind of toy. Nobunaga shouted and immediately charged at them, but they were faster and had strength in numbers, constantly splitting up then regrouping through twists and turns and switching possession of the sword each time they came in contact with each other. The result was an enraged Nobunaga pursuing them all through the city, until they reached their current position at the dead end of a secluded alley on the outskirts of town. The shadows of the tall brick walls enclosing them are long with the evening sun, and Nobunaga knows night will fall soon. Nobunaga was always better at fighting during the day, so he’s aware his current disadvantage will multiply the second the sun sets. He has to finish this soon.

In the growing dimness of near-dusk, deep red sunlight glints off the polished edge of the blade as it’s drawn by his opponent, standing directly opposite of him. 

“We’ll see who regrets what.” The girl sneers darkly, and her friends laugh, spreading out into positions to surround and attack him. 

Her words are cocky, but Nobunaga could see just from the way she unsheathed the katana that she had never fought with a sword before--Nobunaga doubts anyone here had used one before other than him. If he had to guess, she’s probably experienced with knives or another type of blade, moreso than the others, and that’s why her friends trusted the sword to her for the final fight. 

Nobunaga changes his stance, putting his fists up, readying himself to dodge the others and dash straight for the blade-wielding girl’s hands. It wouldn’t be easy. If only he had a distraction…

“FOUND YOU, ASSHOLES!!” A loud voice booms and echoes through the alley, followed by the sound of footsteps sprinting towards them. Nobunaga doesn’t look back, launching himself at the girl to immediately take advantage of her momentary loss of focus.

Nobunaga’s fingers are just a fraction of a centimeter from grasping the hilt when the girl jerks away, effectively dodging him in the knick of time. Nobunaga’s muttered curse is drowned out by the sound of fist meeting flesh and a yelp of pain behind him. Nobunaga spins so his back is faced towards the wall but not cornered, so he can see just who the new arrival is without adding any more very unwanted blind spots.

It’s a boy about Nobunaga’s same height but much heavier, giant fists swinging furiously at his current opponent, whose dodges have a pathetic success rate and whose blocks aren’t fast enough to protect from a punch straight to the gut. They fall to the ground, wailing and curled up in pain. The boy now looks up and meets his eyes and shouts, “Are you with them?!”

“Me?! No!! They stole my katana!” Nobunaga looks pointedly at the girl now positioned in between them both, standing with the sword in an incorrect stance.

“Then scram!! This is my fight!” 

Nobunaga’s face screws up first in confusion, then anger, then surprise as he’s taken off guard by an assailant’s fists. He blocks quickly though, and his forearms take the hit without much pain.

“As if! The only way I’m leaving without my katana is in a body bag!” Nobunaga yells back adamantly.

“Well they stole my dinner!! This is personal!” The boy closes his mouth for a second as he notices a fist flying towards it, and consequently grabs his opponent’s wrist, using the combined forces of their momentum and his pull to fling them to the ground. “And I fight alone!”

“Well then you better give up now, because--” Nobunaga dodges when someone jumps at him, a clumsy attempt. “--one, I was here first--” Nobunaga spins, trying to hit his attacker with the base of his palm but just barely missing. “--and two, my katana is more important than any damn dinner will _ever_ be!” Saying that out loud sends a rush of anger through his system, and it’s channeled through his arms to his fist as it makes contact with his opponent’s jaw, right on the mark. Their head whips to the side and they fly backwards, unable to catch themselves before falling on their back with an _“oof!”_.

The boy sees the attack in full and grins. “Well, if you say it like that, I guess I just gotta bear with you for tonight.” Nobunaga takes a risk in looking back at him, and what he sees isn’t what he was expecting. The boy’s wide smile exposes big white teeth, and his eyes shine with excitement. Nobunaga would never admit it, but something about his bravado in that split second was so contagious that Nobunaga’s will to fight suddenly grew tenfold. “I’ll cover these guys,” The boy continued. “And you get that sword back!”

“Alright!!”

Nobunaga can finally regain his full focus and train all his will on the current wielder of his katana with his newly-found ally taking care of the others. Nobunaga has nothing but tunnel vision now, and only one goal; retrieve his katana, no matter what it takes. He sees her backed against the wall, the sword clenched tightly in her hands. 

When Nobunaga lunges at her this time, she hesitates before dodging, clearly intimidated by the addition of a second, stronger opponent and no longer sure of herself. Nobunaga looks in her eyes and sees her doubt, and it’s then that Nobunaga knows his victory is guaranteed. He feints with his left fist and she shifts to guard, and he lands a right hook just below her ribcage. With his left hand he grabs her wrist, squeezing as tight as he can and twisting it backwards. With a shout she loses her grip on the katana and it drops. Without thinking, Nobunaga moves down to catch it, and just as his hand closes around it, the girl’s knee makes contact with his forehead with a sickening _thwak!_

The force of the blow knocks Nobunaga back and jarring pain spreads through his head, blurring his vision and bringing involuntary tears to his eyes. But even still, Nobunaga refuses to go down, and his hold never weakens on the sword. 

The boy, who obviously heard the sound of the hit, shouts out to Nobunaga. “You okay?!”

Nobunaga grunts, his vision still spinning, but stands up regardless. “Yeah… F-fine.” He hasn’t lost his will. He can’t lose.

He raises his head to glare at the girl. Her arms are poised in front of her in a purely defensive stance. Her jaw is steeled but her shoulders are shaking, and Nobunaga can tell that she’s accepted defeat.

Nobunaga straightens his back, takes a deep breath, and grips the hilt of his katana with both hands. He raises the katana high above his head, the blade reflecting the last rays of the sun, and looks his opponent straight in the eyes.

With a lightning-fast _woosh_ he brings down the blade in a sweeping downwards strike, and the girl gasps, closing her eyes tightly. A second that feels like ten years passes, and she realizes she is still alive. She opens her eyes and is staring down the blade, into Nobunaga’s eyes. The end of the blade pricks the tip of her nose, and she feels a warm drop of blood trickle down.

“I’m not gonna kill you. But you touch anything of mine ever again… Or anything that belongs to my friend over here, I won’t forgive you. Do you understand?” 

The girl nods frantically, a stray tear falling down her cheek. She points to a backpack fashioned out of a burlap sack hidden in the shadowy corner of the alley, and stutters, “Y-your stu-uff… ‘S’in there. W-we didn’t even eat the food yet. Take it.” 

Nobunaga holds the sword steady, and says, “Hey, buddy, grab the backpack.”

“Hm?” The voice behind him seems confused at first, but sees the girl’s pointing finger and understands. He walks over to it and picks it up, shuffling through it’s contents. “Yeah, my stuff’s in here. Some other things too. These yours?”

“Probably,” Nobunaga responds, then lowers his katana. He keeps his eyes locked with the girl’s for a second more, then turns to his new accomplice. 

When they make eye contact, he breaks out in a smile once more, and Nobunaga can’t help but reciprocate it. The boy has a split lip and a scuff mark on his cheek, and a couple knuckles on his right hand are bleeding, but his posture isn’t that of someone suffering from pain, and his expression is one of satisfaction. Nobunaga didn’t take much damage other than the hit to the head, although he’ll definitely be having bad headaches for the next few days. For now, he’s definitely ready to head home.

“Let’s go.” Nobunaga says, waving the boy to follow him as he turns to leave the alley. He slings the backpack over his shoulder and jogs to catch up to Nobunaga, still smiling.

“Alright, I’ll admit, that was some pretty sweet work back there. You were super scary at the end! I felt like I was watching a real samurai.”

“Haha, you too… And how do you know I’m _not_ a real samurai?” Nobunaga looks at him playfully, and he laughs loudly.

“By the way, I’m Uvogin! What’s your name, O great Mr. Samurai?” 

“I’m Nobunaga, but O great Mr. Samurai has a nice ring to it too.”

“That’s a bit long, so I think I’ll call ya Nobu.” 

Nobunaga clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “Nicknames so soon?”

“You’re the one who called me your friend! And ‘buddy’!” 

That’s true. “Well… I thought it sounded more cool to call you my friend than ‘that guy over there’.”

“Fair enough.” 

They’re out of the alleyway now and back into the main streets. The sun is all the way down now, and the moon shines brightly in the sky. If it weren’t for the smog that perpetually hung over the city, they might be able to see thousands of stars, but for now they only see the same few that manage to shine through the cloud cover each night.

“Hey, Nobu, do you have somewhere to stay tonight?” Uvogin asks, looking at Nobunaga out of the corner of his eyes as they walk.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Oh,” Uvogin said. He almost sounds surprised. “Well,” Uvogin averts his eyes, looking instead at the windows of the shops they’re walking past. “If you didn’t, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come with me. I usually just wander around until I find some place.”

 _That doesn’t sound very safe…_ Nobunaga thinks, but doesn’t say it out loud. It’s not like anything he does is particularly safe either, although from first impressions, Uvogin definitely has him beat when it comes to impulsivity and a taste for danger. “You can come with me if you want? I stay in a house with a bunch of other kids…” Nobunaga points with his thumb in the direction of his home. “It’s pretty crowded sometimes, but we never turn away anyone. Unless they cause serious trouble.”

Uvogin’s eyes light up, his eyebrows raising. “Really? That’s okay?”

“I just said it’s okay, idiot.” Nobunaga rolls his eyes, and is about to make another comment when he’s taken off guard by a pair of burly arms wrapped around his shoulders.

“Thanks!!” Uvogin laughs and hugs him tight, swaying back and forth. 

“Wha--get off--” Nobunaga’s face reddens and he attempts to free himself, but there’s no way out of Uvogin’s strong arms.

When Uvogin finally lets go, he still holds on to Nobunaga’s shoulders, beaming at him. “Alright! Lead the way!”

“You gotta let go of me first…!” Nobunaga mumbles, still embarrassed. 

“Oh, right.” Uvogin releases him, and Nobunaga rubs his shoulders. 

“You hug too tight…” 

“Haha, sorry.” Uvogin doesn’t look sorry.

Nobunaga just huffs and turns away, trying to obscure the blush on his cheeks. He walks through the center of the main road, occasionally looking up at the night sky, Uvogin at his side. 

They continue on the main road for about ten minutes, then Nobunaga cuts behind a couple buildings. He climbs a chain link fence, which would be difficult while holding a sword for anyone else, but Nobunaga was well accustomed to doing this now. He’s done it every morning and every night for two years now. Uvogin follows close behind, taking in the surroundings. He seems very interested, so Nobunaga gets the impression that he hasn’t been to this particular part of the city before. That much is to be expected. The whole reason Nobunaga and the other kids chose this house was because of its location; not too far from the main parts of the city to be inconvenient, but secluded enough to be safe from the dangers associated with being in the center of it all. They also have a few kids each day assigned to patrol the area, making sure no one passes through without being seen. They won’t turn anyone away, but sneaking around isn’t looked upon too kindly. 

They walk through a dusty lot with scattered bushes and junk until they see a two story house. There’s the house itself and a porch, then three additional porch extensions that were built at different times with different materials. None of the windows of the house are intact; the holes where windows used to be are either covered by blankets, wooden boards, or duct tape. The front door to the house is dented and scratched, and the paint of the house is discolored and fading, with the occasional graffiti drawing here and there.

When they reach the porch, they’re immediately greeted by five kids sitting on open sleeping bags, talking amongst themselves. They call out “Hey Nobu!” in chorus, and Nobu waves to them.

Another person, with jaw-length pink hair, is standing by the door, looking intently at them. Nobunaga takes Uvogin and walks up to the door.

“Hey Machi. No problems today?” Nobunaga greets her with a nod.

“Not particularly. Who’s this?” She scans Uvogin up and down.

“I’m Uvogin, newest ally of O great Mr. Samurai Nobunaga.” Uvogin says this with a comically serious voice, and Machi raises an eyebrow at him. 

Nobunaga huffs a laugh and answers Machi more concretely. “I got in a bit of a fight today, this guy helped me out. He needed somewhere to stay tonight.”

“Hm.” Machi hums in acknowledgement. “Well, you better go inside, the twins have been waiting for you all day.”

Nobunaga smiles, and Uvogin looks at him curiously. Twins? 

Just as Machi hinted, the second Nobunaga stepped through the door, two sets of footsteps run around the staircase to the front hallway, and two little voices yell “Big brother!”

Two little girls with dark hair, one with a bob haircut and the other with a long ponytail, come racing up to Nobunaga. Nobunaga drops to his knees and sets his katana down. He opens his arms and they rush into his embrace.

“Hey, I got you two something today. It’s kinda dirty so you should try to wash it eventually, though.” Nobunaga leans back and tells the two girls.

They squeal with excitement, and even though Uvogin barely even knows who they are, he can’t help but feel happy. 

“Uvogin, toss me the backpack.”

Uvogin lets the straps slide off his shoulders then hands it to Nobunaga, who opens it up and starts looking for something. Uvogin and the little girls all watch in anticipation for what he’ll take out, and all their eyes widen at the sight of a cute stuffed bunny with faded pink fur and shiny blue bead eyes. 

“It’s so cute!” All three of their voices ring out in unison, and Uvogin’s voice sounds hilarious mixed in with the high pitch of the young girls’. Nobunaga looks at him in surprise as the toy is taken from his hands by the girls.

They hold the toy and hand it back and forth, giggling with happiness, until they turn back to Nobunaga, then to Uvogin.

“Big brother, who’s that?” “Who are you?” One asks Nobunaga, and the other asks Uvogin.

“Alright,” Nobunaga rocks back on his heels then stands. He pats the head of the short-haired girl, and says “Aliya, meet Uvogin. Uvogin, meet Aliya.” She waves up at him, and Uvogin laughs, waving back. Nobunaga then steps around to the long-haired one, and pats her head too. “Amani, Uvogin. Uvogin, Amani.” “You’re really big,” Amani says, staring up at Uvogin, and Uvogin laughs even harder.

“They’re your sisters?”

“Well, not by blood, but…”

“He’s our big brother!” They shout adamantly. 

Nobunaga chuckles and there’s a smile on his face so genuinely happy that Uvogin can’t take his eyes off of it. Suddenly, Nobunaga’s laughter stops and he hunches over with an “ugh”, his hand flying to his forehead. 

“What’s wrong?” Aliya reaches out to Nobunaga, putting a small hand on his shoulder. 

“Oh--” Uvogin’s hands reach out too, out of instinct, ready to catch Nobunaga if he falls. “He got injured in the fight, hit pretty hard in the head…”

Amani’s face scrunches up in a frown and she grabs Nobunaga’s wrist, pulling him to what looks like a living room and leading him to a saggy mattress pushed against the wall. 

In this room there’s a small lamp, and in the light, they can all get a better look at each other. Uvogin sees through Nobunaga’s fingers that his forehead is already turning a spotty purple-yellow, and he winces sympathetically. He feels someone watching him, and glances down to see Aliya staring at him concernedly. “You’re hurt too,” she says.

“Ah,” Uvo says, touching his face. He can feel that it’s a bit swollen, but in the wide scheme of things it’s really not that much damage. “No, it’s fine. I don’t really…” Before Uvogin can even finish his sentence, both the girls have run off down the hall. 

He has no idea where they’re going, but he has no way of knowing how to get around the house, especially chasing two fast little kids, so he decides fairly quickly that it’d be better just to stay with Nobunaga. 

Uvogin sits down next to Nobunaga, who’s breathing slightly labored breaths, trying to keep his pain in check without being too obvious. The mattress sags beneath Uvogin’s weight and makes a creaking sound. Nobunaga opens his eyes slightly to shoot Uvogin a look, and Uvogin can’t help but giggle a bit. To his pleasure, Nobunaga smiles a little in response, his face relaxing by a fraction. 

They sit in silence, Uvogin swaying back and forth unconsciously and tapping his fingers against each other. It makes the mattress sway, and normally Nobunaga would complain, but right now for some reason, the motion is calming. Nobunaga thinks to himself that maybe it was lucky that both of their belongings were stolen today.

“By the way…” Nobunaga speaks quietly, and Uvogin turns to him, listening closely. “Aren’t you gonna eat your dinner?”

“Huh?” Uvogin had completely forgotten about that. “Oh, yeah…” 

He stands from the mattress a bit too quickly and the weight redistribution wobbles Nobunaga. Nobunaga sighs a small groan, and Uvogin whispers an “oops!”. He walks back to the entryway and picks up the backpack they left on the ground there. He also picks up Nobunaga’s katana, and sets it beside Nobunaga on the mattress, prompting a muttered “thanks”. He sits down and upturns the bag, dumping all of the contents out on the floor. Through half-lidded eyes, Nobunaga sees half of a round loaf of bread, looking only slightly stale, and…

“Is that an orange?”

“This? Yup.” Uvogin picks up the orange, tossing it in the air and catching it. He sees Nobunaga’s eyes open a touch wider and follow the fruit as it rises and falls. Uvogin has spent enough of his life hungry to know what that look means.

“You like oranges?” Uvogin asks with a toothy grin.

Realizing he’s staring, Nobunaga looks away, choosing instead to look at an empty soda bottle on the floor. “Sorta, yeah.”

“Aw, only _sorta_?” Uvogin’s teasing him now, peeling the orange with his fingers. When the skin’s all off, he pulls at the fruit until it splits cleanly in half, and waves one of the halves in the air just in front of Nobunaga’s face. “Well, I guess if it’s not that much, I can have it all to myself.”

“Agh, what do you want from me! I like oranges alright, they’re my favorite fruit!” Nobunaga says this loudly, then hisses in pain at the throbbing that spreads through his brain.

“All I wanted was for you to admit it, Nobu.” Uvogin laughs then hands the half-orange to Nobunaga. Nobunaga graciously takes it, and Uvogin bites into his respective half.

They sit and eat for about two minutes before Aliya and Amani return, Aliya holding two hand towels and a bowl, and Amani holding a sealed plastic bottle of water. 

“Amani, where’d you get that?”

“I found it,” She avoids the question, and Nobunaga figures it’s not worth pursuing. Perfectly clean water is hard to come by in Meteor City; most of the time the best you can do is boil water from one of the few wells in the city and treat it with charcoal. Nobunaga and Machi do a pretty good job enforcing hygiene around here, so they haven’t had any water illnesses in a while, at least in this house. Still, if anyone in Meteor City ever said they didn’t prefer packaged water over the ground water, they were lying to your face. 

Aliya sets the towels in the bowl and places the bowl on the ground. Amani holds the water bottle over the bowl and carefully twists the cap, cracking the seal. She holds it steady, incredibly cautious to not pour any more water than necessary into the bowl. Water should always be re-used, so it’s important not to lose any, especially when it’s this clean. While Amani pours the water, Aliya moves the towels around in it, soaking them. They had been storing the bottle in a cold corner of the basement, so the water was cool to the touch. Once the towels are all wet, Aliya takes one and hands the other to Amani. 

Amani folds the towel up and walks over to Nobunaga. She takes Nobunaga’s hand and makes him move it from his face, then sets the towel on his forehead. Nobunaga lets out a sigh of relief as the cool cloth settled on his skin. Maybe it’s not proper medical attention, but it’s not like he’s dying, and this certainly does make it feel better. Nobunaga slumps back, laying down flat across the mattress.

Meanwhile, Aliya sits down on the floor beside Uvogin and pats gently at his face with the wet towel, wiping off small amounts of dried blood and large amounts of dirt. Uvogin sits patiently, until Aliya swipes at his split lip. “Ow!” He jerks back and covers his mouth with his hand. He scrunches up his face and glares, and Aliya returns the look with just as much determination.

“You have to let me clean it!”

“It’s just a split lip! I’ve had worse biting myself!”

“It doesn’t matter, now stop covering your mouth!”

“Just let her, Uvogin, she won’t stop until she decides she’s done.” Nobunaga sighs. His eyes are closed, but he can imagine the scene just fine; he’s been on the receiving end of it plenty of times. 

Uvogin grumbles something grumpily under his breath, but brings his hand down. The anger all drains from Aliya’s face and she continues cleaning the minor wounds on both his face and hands with a commendable amount of care.

“How old are you?” Uvogin asks curiously.

Aliya opens her mouth to answer, then promptly closes it, uncertainty clouding her expression. “Um…”

“They’re both around 6 or 7, give or take a few months.” Nobunaga answers the question for them.

“Hm.” Uvogin looks back and forth between the two sisters, then says, “You’ll make good nurses someday.”

“I’ll be a _doctor_ , not a nurse!!” Aliya protests loudly.

“And we’re already good at it!” Amani scowls harshly at him. 

Uvogin is surprised by the response and is shocked into silence for a few seconds, but soon begins laughing, his eyes squinted and arms over his belly as he wheezes. Nobunaga laughs too, albeit not as intensely, and feels something like pride bubble in his chest.

“You guys have a lot of spirit, I like it!” Uvogin grins, and the twins are now the surprised ones. Aliya’s cheeks redden and Amani looks away, hiding her face. 

To avoid any further comments, the two immediately busy themselves working with the towels again. Aliya, now apparently satisfied with her care of Uvogin’s injuries, says she’s going to go rinse the dirt out of the towel with some of their other water to keep from contaminating the water they’re using right now. Amani takes the towel from Nobunaga’s forehead, prompting a low whine of protest from the older brother, and soaks it in the water again before putting it back.

“You should go to bed. It’s getting late.” Nobunaga says as Aliya comes back in the room, having cleaned the towel then hung it on a line outside to dry. 

“Bu--” Amani starts, and Nobunaga cuts her off.

“I’m fine, you both made sure of that, didn’t you?” They nod hesitantly. “Do you really think your big brother can’t take a few hits?” Amani closes her mouth, and Aliya suppresses her clearly-visible urge to resist, but they both shake their heads.

“Alright, then go to bed. Paku should be upstairs already.”

“Paku?!” Their faces light up with joy.

“You didn’t know Paku was back?” Nobunaga asks, but they’re already gone, scrambling up the creaky wooden stairs.

Nobunaga chuckles then turns to Uvogin, about to make a comment, but forgets what he was going to say when he sees Uvogin’s face. Uvogin is looking at the grazed knuckles of his fist, thoughtful in an uncharacteristic way, in a melancholic way that tells Nobunaga he’s thinking about something much bigger than what’s happening right now.

Nobunaga waits a bit, just watching him. It’s strange. Nobunaga hadn’t exactly been taking notes on Uvogin’s appearance this past hour, but even so he feels that Uvogin looks a lot older than he probably is with an expression like this. He wonders briefly how old Uvogin actually is, and how that compares to all the things that have happened to him in this city. This is just the kind of place where you’re forced to grow up fast.

Uvogin snaps from his reverie when he feels Nobunaga’s gaze. He’s instinctively embarrassed about having zoned out like that out of no where, and covers it with cheap faux aggression. “What’re you lookin’ at?”

Nobunaga snorts at Uvogin’s attempt to sound tough. “I’m looking at a dude who’s thinking way too hard about something.”

Uvogin “hmph”s and crosses his arms, but the look slowly returns. This time, Uvogin speaks.

“I was just thinking it’s cool that you’ve got this sort of family thing going on here.” 

His tone is honest and quiet, and oddly humble. Nobunaga truly isn’t sure how to respond to something like that. So he’s grateful when Uvogin takes a breath and continues.

“I guess it’s not something I’ve seen up close in a while. Not something I’ve had in a long time either.”

There Uvogin goes, definitely sounding older than he should be. This is ridiculous.

“Well, I told you already.”

“... Told me what?”

“We don’t turn away anyone here.”

The corner of Uvogin’s mouth quirks upward, but the heavy aura is still in the air. Nobunaga, being the complex thinker and proficient problem solver he is, grabs his sheathed katana, leans over, and whacks Uvogin on the top of his head just hard enough to sting.

“So quit with that mood, and come by whenever you feel like it. Idiot.”

Uvogin is dumbfounded at first with the hit from the sword, but hearing Nobunaga’s words, a genuine smile returns to his face. “Alright.”

And just like that, Nobunaga’s family grows.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still unsure of my characterization for Uvogin, he's a hard character for me to get a grasp on. I assume he'd be fairly energetic and happy as a kid, though? Hm...


End file.
